suffrage

Meanings

1. 1noununcountableformal

   The legal right to vote in public elections.

   Grammar: No plural and no a/an: women won suffrage.

   Patterns

   • suffrage for someone
   • extend suffrage to someone

   Women in many countries won suffrage in the early twentieth century.

   The new law extended suffrage to people over eighteen.

   Activists campaigned for universal suffrage.

2. 2noununcountableformal

   The movement to win voting rights, especially for women.

   Grammar: Often used before a noun: suffrage movement, suffrage march.

   Patterns

   • the suffrage movement

   The suffrage movement organized marches across the country.

   Her grandmother was active in suffrage in the 1910s.

   A suffrage banner hung in the museum.

Common combinations

universal suffrage

The reform introduced universal suffrage.

women's suffrage

Women's suffrage was won after a long struggle.

extend suffrage

Parliament voted to extend suffrage to all adults.

suffrage movement

The suffrage movement used petitions and protests.

fight for suffrage

They fought for suffrage for decades.

Synonyms and how they differ

franchise

Franchise is a formal synonym for the right to vote and is less common in everyday speech.

the vote

The vote is the plain everyday phrase, while suffrage sounds historical or political.

voting rights

Voting rights is broader and includes protections around voting, whereas suffrage is the basic right itself.

Opposites

Word family

suffragist noun

a person who campaigned peacefully for voting rights

suffragette noun

a woman campaigner for the vote in early twentieth-century Britain

enfranchise verb

to give someone the right to vote

disenfranchise verb

to take away the right to vote

Commonly confused: suffrage or suffering?

Practice

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